Tixall Gatehouse
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Tixall Gatehouse is a 16th century gatehouse situated at Tixall, near Stafford, Staffordshire and is all that remains of Tixall Hall. It is a Grade I listed building.
The manor of Tixall was held for many years by the Littleton family until 1507 when the Littleton heiress married Sir John Aston. The medieval manor house was replaced by Sir Edward Aston, (High Sheriff of Staffordshire) in about 1555 and the Gatehouse was added in about 1580.
The Gatehouse is a three storey rectangular structure, the ballustraded facade of which is decorated with three orders of twinned columns. There are four octagonal corner turrets topped with cupolas and weather vanes.
The Astons were later raised to the Baronetage and to the Peerage. On the death of the sixth Lord Aston the estate passed to his sister who had married Thomas Clifford ( see Clifford-Constable Baronets). Clifford replaced the old house with a new mansion in about 1780 but retained the old Gatehouse.
The Cliffords sold the Tixall estate to Earl Talbot of nearby Ingestre Hall in about 1835 and thereafter the property was let out to tenants.
The old Hall was demolished in 1927, leaving only the Gatehouse standing, and the estate was broken up when sold off piecemeal in 1960. In 1968 the Landmark Trust bought the Gatehouse which following restoration is now available for holiday lets.
[edit] References
- Staffordshire Historical Collections, Volume 4 (1883) pp20-25 from British History Online
- History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire William White (1851) from Genuki
